Otep

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Otep (also written as OTEP or OT3P) is an American nu metal band formed in the fall of 2000 in Los Angeles, California fronted by singer Otep Shamaya. They have released two EPs, six studio albums, and one live album. As of December 2013, they are no longer under their previous label Victory Records and currently do not belong to a record label.[4]

Otep began as a band in Los Angeles, California in late 2000.[3] The name Otep is from Otep Shamaya's stage name and is an anagram for "Poet". They were invited to play Ozzfest before they had even signed to a label after Sharon Osbourne witnessed their live performance. They have since played Ozzfest several times.[3] Otep signed with Capitol Records after only a few shows and without a demo, purely on the power of their live performance.[3] They started gigging around Los Angeles a lot and released Jihad EP in 2001.[3]

The band released their album Sevas Tra with Terry Date[5] on June 18, 2002[6] and then played several gigs at the Ozzfest and was consider one of the prime bands there in 2002.[3] Their first time at Ozzfest was in 2001 with their 8th gig.[3] The first album peaked at 145 on the Billboard 200[7] and 86 on the UK Albums Chart.[8]

After 3 years of touring, on March 20 during 2007 they signed to Koch Records and they released their third album titled The Ascension[11] and supported it with constant touring with Static-X starting in the spring of 2007.[3] Despite the original release date, the album was delayed indefinitely due to the recent Capitol/Virgin Records merger.[12][13][14] It peaked at 81 on the Billboard 200[7][15][16] and 6 on the US Independent Charts.[16][17] The album also had about 10,200 album copies sold in its first week of release.[15]

Smash the Control Machine and departure of Jay McGuire (2009–2010)[edit]

In an interview, Otep Shamaya has stated that Hydra will be her band's final album.[26] The album was released on January 22, 2013[27] and peaked at 133 on Billboard 200.[28] However, the band is still touring and have tours in places such as the USA's east coast and Australia for their Sounds of Armageddon tour.[29][30] In early 2014, Otep confirmed on her personal Facebook account and her Band account that another album would be made. A release date has not yet been confirmed

In April 2014, Otep have signed a new management deal with Mach 2.8 Entertainment Group—a company founded by Slipknot‘s acrobatic DJ Sid Wilson and his business partner Symon Mead.